The Department of Health is now giving free prophylaxis treatment in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental, to those who are at risk for leptospirosis after massive flooding on December 17 from tropical storm “Sendong.”

Dr. Socrates Villamor, chief of the Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Center of the DOH in Negros Oriental, said Tanjay City has the most number of suspected leptospirosis cases as of the last monitoring report, with 19 patients, including one fatality.

A total of 25 suspected leptospirosis cases had been reported last week, in Tanjay, Dumaguete, Bais and San Jose, and the number could still rise since the incubation period of the infection is at least 20 days.

The DOH, however, has not yet made an emergency procurement of the prophylaxis medication due to limited supply, although Dr. Felix Sy of the Negros Oriental Provincial Health Office has said that the provincial government may also be purchasing it, Dr. Villamor said.

The disease manifests flu-like symptoms such as high fever, severe headache and body malaise, and is contracted by humans with open wounds who had come into contact with muddy floodwater contaminated by urine of rats and rodents, Villamor said.

He said he is asking flood victims and other persons who might have come into contact with flood waters at the height of “Sendong” to seek immediate medical consultation at the first signs of the flu-like symptoms.*JFP

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